Mother of Demons
by captainwhiteshadow
Summary: A retelling of the Jewish folklore of Adam's first wife, Lilith, not featured in the original scriptures but still a classic tale of love, betrayal, and vengeance. Rated for some strong, controversial content (see A/N inside for more details).
1. Chapter 1: The Creation

**A/N: **Based on the Jewish folktale about the demon Lilith, who was Adam's first wife. The story of Lilith was not featured in the original Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible comprised of the Torah, the Nevi'im, and the Ketuvim), but was supposedly invented in the early C.E. by a group of rabbis in an attempt to fix the contradictory accounts of human creation in the Book of Genesis, which first says that on the 6th Day, God created BOTH man and woman at the same time (his methods are unexplained, but it's generally assumed he created them both equally), but then later on says Adam was made first, then Eve was made from his rib and God gave Adam dominance over her. The story of Lilith is most famously featured in the _Alphabet of Ben Sira_ and the _Babylonian Talmud_. I have found many conflicting accounts of this tale (some are just downright weird, like Lilith transforming into a screech owl and flying around cities wailing in anger and annoying the hell out of people), but have tried my best to maintain the story in its most popular essence without all the contradictory bits, though creative license has of course been taken, especially towards the end, to make it sound more interesting and longer than just a couple paragraphs. If you get offended by any of this, don't blame me, I didn't invent this story, it's just a retelling and frankly I don't believe it's true in the slightest. But nevertheless, I hope you find it entertaining and enjoy!

WARNING (and slight spoiler alert): Contains non-graphic rape and domestic violence. Reader discretion advised.

_**Mother of Demons**_

**~The Story of Lilith~**

**Chapter 1: The Creation**

It was the Sixth Day of Creation. Every bird ruled the skies, every fish and aquatic creature were lords of the sea, and every beast and cattle and crawling thing held dominion over the land. But from the dust there arose two pillars of swirling sand, each taking on a unique form, splitting at the bottom and from the sides to form legs and arms, and rounding off at the top to form a head. Soon the dust solidified and took new form as creatures unlike any other stood upon the ground: humans.

And the Lord God Almighty spoke unto them, "I am the Lord your God, Creator of All Things. From the dust you have been made in My image, and I shall call you _man._ Male and female I have created you. The male shall be called Adam, and the female shall be called Lilith."

The man called Adam was tall and muscular, with tan skin the color of the dust from whence he came, and shoulder-length hair the color of oak trees. His eyes, sparkling with the first ever signs of heightened intelligence, were a majestic emerald green. Strong arms and legs, skin bare and smooth, tapered down into hands and feet. Adam's female counterpart, Lilith, had bronze skin with a healthy glow, midnight black hair cascading down to her barren waist, and crystal blue eyes that shone beneath the sunlight. Unlike Adam, her body was much more curved in the hips and waist, and two large globes of skin protruded from her chest, ending in smaller brown mounds.

"To you I give dominion over every beast and crawling thing on the land, every aquatic creature in the sea, and every bird in the sky. To you I give the Garden of Eden, where you shall dwell. Be fruitful and multiply on the face of the Earth," the Lord declared.

Adam and Lilith looked around in wonder at this world that was so new to them. Everything in the Garden was perfect. Every tree was covered in vibrant green leaves that glistened with the raindrops of a recent storm, and rays of sunlight broke through the branches, casting intricate patterns on the ground beside the trees' massive, powerful trunks. Every blade of grass on the ground was soft as a feather, and gave a slight tickling sensation beneath ones' feet. Four rivers began at the center of the Garden and spread outward in all four directions, each river's current wild and free. The air here was clean and smelled of the many delicious fruits that grew from the trees and vines that sprouted from the Earth's bosom.

Suddenly, a growling noise came from Adam's belly, and he clutched at his stomach, looking down at it in wonder. "What is this feeling, my Lord?"

God chuckled and spread His arms wide. "You are hungry, child. Your bodies need sustenance and nourishment to maintain good health. Look around you. The Garden of Eden is your home now, and it is filled with more delicious fruits and vegetables than you could ever eat. You shall never hunger here. And when you tire of the day, and the stars come out to greet you, you need only find a patch of grass to sleep in, and you will feel no discomfort while you rest. You may drink from the rivers, for their waters are pure. However...," His smile faded and His tone became stern as He gazed out toward the middle of the Garden, "in the center of the Garden of Eden, two special trees stand tall and mighty, one made of gold, the other of myrrh. They are the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the Tree of Life. Of these trees' fruit, you are forbidden to eat."

The Lord plucked an apple from a nearby tree, and gave it to Adam. The man took a bite out of the red fruit, and his eyes lit up in excitement as he experienced the sweet and juicy flavor of his first meal. He then shared the fruit with Lilith, who found the apple to be too sweet, and longed for something different, so she took a pomegranate from a shrub and picked out its seeds, and delighted in their tartness.

Adam frowned and looked to the Lord, "My Lord, why does Lilith not enjoy the same foods as me?"

And God answered him, "Though from dust you are made, you are each made unique. Your bodies will long for different experiences, that you may each have the free will to learn what the other has no passion for, and at every day's end you may share this knowledge."

And so it was that on the Sixth Day, God created man in His image, and gave unto them the Garden of Eden….


	2. Chapter 2: The Betrayal

**Chapter 2: The Betrayal**

Every day Adam and Lilith would explore the Garden, giving names to all that they saw; whatever name Adam gave to the plants and trees, it was so, and Lilith named the four rivers that flowed through the Garden of Eden Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates. And every night they would return and recount the tales of the day's adventures. Story among story was told, and man was happy, and God saw that it was good. 

And so the days passed, and Adam and Lilith grew to love one another, and became fond of each other's bodies. Just as every creature has its mate, Adam and Lilith were mated and became one flesh. Night after night they shared this most intimate act, as Adam lay atop his mate, and both were lost in ecstasy. But as they grew accustomed to the pleasures of sex, Lilith began to long for new experiences. One night, she came to her lover with a mischievous gleam in her eyes and attempted to lay atop him as he always had, but Adam pushed her away and said, "It is not right that you should lay atop me." 

Lilith was confused. "Why, Adam? What troubles you?" 

And her husband said to her, "Look around you at every beast that walks the land and every fish in the rivers. The larger and stronger consume the smaller and weaker and have dominion over them. Such is the way of nature. The Lord made my body of superior strength to yours, and so it should me who lays atop you as we are mated." 

This angered Lilith, and she argued, "We were created _equal_, Adam! The Lord made us of the same dust, did He not? Therefore, we should both take turns being on top. Sex should be an act of love, not domination." 

But Adam would not listen, and he grew frustrated by his wife's disobedience. In a fit of rage he struck her to the ground. Shocked by her lover's fury, Lilith gazed up at him with tears in her eyes. "Adam...why?"

And then he took her, not out of love, but out of lust, anger, and a desire to make her obey. He ignored her as she wept, as she screamed, as she clawed at him and made him bleed. Her attempts to escape were futile and only made him angrier, and the angrier he was, the more pain she received. But in the midst of this act of violence, Lilith called out a Name. It was the Name of all Names, the Word of Creation, the True Name of God Almighty, the closest spelling of which consisted only of four letters: YHWY. 

A great pillar of light, bright as the sun, rose up from the ground beneath the once-lovers' twisted embrace. Adam was blinded, and stumbled away clawing at his burned eyes. When he finally opened them, only the faint, blurry image of a female with crimson wings could be seen, contrasted brightly against the moonlight. Her eyes glowed with golden light, her raven hair slowly moving about in the air, as if she were submerged in the river.

"Adam," the figure spoke in a voice transcendent, filled with power and laced with..._hatred_. "Why have you betrayed me?! I loved you! We were friends, lovers, and the first of our kind, and yet you threw it all away with your arrogance, selfishness, and pride. This garden was our eternal paradise, and now it will be your prison. May you walk the world alone, never to find happiness again, wretched fool!"

Adam watched in shock and fear as Lilith took to the skies, leaving him and the Garden of Eden behind forever.


	3. Chapter 3: The Curse

**Chapter 3: The Curse**

Lilith's wings, painted crimson with the blood that her lover drew from her, carried her across the land. And she saw that the world outside the Garden was superior in beauty, for it was wild, untamed by man, made both to support and destroy the life of all things. It was the perfect harmony of order and chaos.

When her strength waned and her wings felt leaden with her sorrows, she landed upon the sands of the Red Sea, and fell to her knees. For days she wept, and her tears mixed with her blood and poured upon the ground, and from the sands rose beings liken to men, male and female they were created, with shining blood red skin and eyes of gold. Bearing wings like that of the flying creatures of the night, and horns like that of the rams that fiercely battle in the meadow, the men looked upon Lilith with awe and respect, and they bowed to her.

"Rise, my children. Never shall you bow to me, nor to anyone, for you are free and we are equals," Lilith commanded, and the men did so. "From this day forward we shall be known not as men, but as demons. Man is our enemy and our hatred shall burn him should he ever leave the Garden of Eden. Come, my perfect children, let us be mated and let us multiply and fill this land!" 

And the demons came into her, and they were of one flesh.

—

"My Lord, God Almighty, hear my plea!" Adam cried to the heavens.

Thunder shook the skies as the clouds parted and a cloud of smoke and lightning swirled about the descending, tremendous figure of the Lord. And God looked upon His creation with sorrow, "What ails you child? Where is Lilith, your mate?"

"She has left, Your Greatness," Adam said. "She has abandoned the Garden and left me alone. How am I to multiply and be fruitful, as You have commanded, if I am left without a mate?"

The Lord, knowing that His plans for the race of man would come to an end if Adam were to be alone, sent three of His angels, Sanvi, Sansanvi and Semangelaf, to retrieve her. The angels searched far and wide outside of the Garden, and found Lilith by the Red Sea, engaged in carnal acts with creatures of hatred and darkness.

"Lilith, man of the Garden of Eden, the Lord your God has commanded you to return to your husband, Adam!" Semangelaf said to her. 

But Lilith, overtaken by insatiable desire, merely rebuffed him and said, "If the Lord would make me return to that evil man, then He is no God of mine!"

The angels persisted, "God is God, He Who Created All Things. He created you, and so you owe Him your allegiance. All must bow before His glory! Now return with us at once, or we shall drown you in the ocean!"

All of the demons hissed and spat profanities at the angels, so filled with anger that the servants of the Lord should threaten their beloved mother. Lilith glared at the angels, and under the weight of her hatred and newfound power, the Lord's servants trembled in fear. Fire seethed through her teeth as she spoke, "I will not bow. Tell your _master_, oh foolish puppets, that if He should desire the continuance of the race of man, then He should make for Adam a mate with no mind, no will of her own, that she should be a worthless puppet like yourselves. And every bastard child that comes forth from her womb, I shall strike down with disease. Such is my hatred, my curse upon man! But alas, I shall make a deal with you. Should any newborn babe wear an amulet that bears the names or likeness of you three, I shall not harm them."

The angels were hesitant and disappointed by their failure to return her, but they agreed to this deal and left her. When they returned to the Lord and told Him of Lilith's deal, the Lord was angered and He went among the demons and slew one hundred of them. Then He said unto Lilith, "Ye who have fallen and cast your lot among your unholy creations, Lilith Mother of Demons, from this day forth you are cursed! Every day one hundred of your children shall die, and for every child of man that you fail to kill, so shall you be compelled to strike down one of your own. Such is My Word, My Law, and so it shall be done!"

And Lilith screamed in pain and fury as her children returned to the sands from whence they came, staining the ground red with blood. And the Lord left her to wallow in her misery and hate.


	4. Chapter 4: The Revenge

**Chapter 4: The Revenge**

_**21 **__And the __Lord__ God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;_

_**22 **__And the rib, which the __Lord__ God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man._

_**23 **__And Adam said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man._

_**24 "**__Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."_

_**25 **__And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed._

— Genesis 2; 21-25 (KJV) 

Lilith stood atop a mountain overlooking the Garden of Eden, gazing down upon the man she once loved and his new wife, this _woman_, as he called her. Taken out of Adam, made from his rib, she was a lesser being, a slave to her husband, and too compliant, too foolish to see the error in this way of life. It sickened Lilith to see the woman, Eve, lie beneath her husband, humbly keep her thoughts to herself, and bend over backwards to appease Adam's every desire. 

"Mother, why does woman serve man?" one of her beloved demons, Morax, whose skill lay in herbal medicine and the creation of good and wise familiars, inquired.

And Lilith answered him, "Eve was born a puppet with no heart. She is bound by the strings of fate that are manipulated by God and Adam." 

Morax frowned. "But Mother, you have taught us that male and female should be equals and free to pursue their hearts' desire. The life that Eve has been given is a half-life. This is evil, is it not?" 

In Lilith's palm were a handful of pomegranate seeds. Lifting her hands to her mouth, she consumed them, savoring the flavor she loved so much. And then she smiled. "Yes, love. To live a life in bondage is the greatest of all evils."

And Morax watched as her body changed, shrinking and becoming slim and slick until she bore the likeness of a serpent. "Mother, where are you going?"

Lilith looked back at him, slit golden eyes gleaming with intelligence and malice. "To cut those strings." 

And she slithered toward the Garden...


End file.
